Printmaking: Letterpress
Letterpress printing is a technique of relief printing using a printing press. A combination of text, ordaments, decorations and or cuts are composed and locked into frame (chase) and into the bed of a press, its inked and paper is pressed against it to transfer the ink from the type which creates an impression on the paper.
I am currently taking an Introduction to Letterpress class at NHIA which is being taught by Erin Sweeney. In addition to the letterpress equipment at the school: Chandler & Price 10 x 15, Pearle Letterpress, Kelsey 8x5, Kelsey 5x3, two show presses, an Adams Press, and several small proof presses.
This print was made with my home made scissor jack press. (The instructions for constructing it on on the DM Penny Press site)
The Museum of Printing in Haverhill, Massachusetts. Is a great place to visit to see printing presses, they also have a store where you can buy type, and parts. The following are two posters that can be downloaded or viewed from their site.:
Broadside Project
Our first assignment in the Introduction to Letterpress class was to produce a 10 small posters (8x10) , using at least two colors in a broadside and printing on top of it. Each person in the class will produce 10 so we can exchange with each other. For the printed portion I chose to use a short poem that I wrote called "Coffee":
Coffee The morning was cold and raw Fog, still clinging to the ground I gazed, searching for the morning light Stillness, the cup almost burning my hand My thoughts wander with the rising steam Nothing in particular What will the day bring A long, slow sip, savoring, Mmmm..., this coffee is good
For the broadside I wanted an image to represent morning mist. I was not satisfied with the results I was getting with the show cards presses in class and decided to try creating a 2 color broadside using pronto plates. The following is a copy of my first finished print:
Although the first couple of prints came out reasonably well, the pronto plates kept rolling up with the brayer while inking and I was having a hard time maintaining a consistent print. Which was making the process unenjoyable. So I decided to switch gears and try a white line print. I traced the image onto a thin sheet of birch plywood and cut it into 2 pieces with a hand scrolling saw. On the bottom piece I carved out the areas to represent the mist. I inked the bottom piece with green ink and the top piece was a blend of white, blue and orange. This was much easier the make consistent multiples:
The following images shows the steps I followed to print the final poster using my scissor jack press. The first step was to use a brayer to ink the type, I used red litho ink:
I used magnets to keep everything in place, and used a Lowes paint stirring stick as a guide for lining up the paper so that the type appeared roughly in the same place. The next step was placing the paper on top of the type:
For padding I used a small piece of blanket, cut to match the size of the type, which is placed on top on the paper:
The next step was to carefully place a quarter inch thick steel plate on top of the paper and pad:
The last step is to place the scissor jack on top of the plate right above the area to be printed. Above the jack is another steel plate, cracking up the jack pushes the botton plate down to create the print. You just learn by feel and experimentation on how much pressure is needed:
Here is a copy of the final print:
Book Project
Our next project is to produce a book, so I am planning on making an artistic book and scroll of the micro short story I wrote called The Life of Pi (which has nothing to due with the book "Life of Pi" by Yaan Martel)